Affirming the importance of the Orphan Drug Act, celebrating the over 750 new orphan therapies approved since its creation, and recognizing the need to continue supporting research and development for rare diseases.

applauds the tremendous growth in research and development into new therapies for rare diseases and the resulting number of therapies for people living with rare diseases approved by the Food and Drug Administration;

recognizes that significant research and development efforts and related investments are needed to develop therapies to treat and cure the thousands of rare diseases for which no treatment options are currently available; and

affirms the need to continue supporting public investment and encouraging private investment in research and development of new treatments for rare diseases.